Bruce Wayne (Earth-31)
(parents, deceased) | Universe = Earth-31 | BaseOfOperations = Gotham City | Gender = Male | Height = | Weight = | Eyes = Blue | Hair = Black | UnusualFeatures = | Citizenship = American | MaritalStatus = Single | Occupation = | Education = | Origin = | PlaceOfBirth = | Creators = Bob Kane; Bill Finger; Frank Miller | First = Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 | HistoryText = Batman: Year One Bruce Wayne returns home from training abroad in martial arts, manhunting and science for the past 12 years, and James Gordon moves to Gotham with his wife, Barbara, after a transfer from Chicago. Both are swiftly acquainted with the corruption and violence of Gotham City, with Gordon witnessing his partner Detective Flass assaulting a teen for fun. On a surveillance mission to the seedy East End, a disguised Bruce is propositioned by teenaged prostitute Holly Robinson. He is reluctantly drawn into a brawl with her violent pimp and is attacked by several prostitutes, including dominatrix Selina Kyle. Two police officers shoot and take him in their squad car, but a dazed and bleeding Bruce breaks his handcuffs and causes a crash, dragging the police to a safe distance before fleeing. He reaches the Manor barely alive and sits before his father’s bust, requesting guidance in his war on crime. A bat crashes through a window and settles on the bust, giving him the inspiration to become a bat. Gordon soon works to rid corruption from the force, but, on orders from Commissioner Loeb, several officers attack him, including Flass, who personally threatens Gordon’s pregnant wife. In revenge, the recovering Gordon tracks Flass down, beats and humiliates him, leaving him naked and handcuffed in the snow. As Gordon becomes a minor celebrity for several brave acts, Batman strikes for the first time, attacking a group of thieves. Batman soon works up the ladder, even attacking Flass while he was accepting a drug dealer’s bribe. After Batman interrupts a dinner party attended by many of Gotham’s corrupt politicians and crime bosses, including Carmine Falcone, Loeb orders Gordon to bring him in by any means necessary. As Gordon tries in vain to catch him, Batman attacks Falcone, stripping him naked and tying him up in his bed after dumping his car in the river, further infuriating the mob boss. Assistant district attorney Harvey Dent becomes Batman’s first ally, while Detective Sarah Essen and Gordon, after Essen suggested Bruce Wayne as a Batman suspect, witness Batman save an old women from a runaway truck. Essen holds Batman at gunpoint while Gordon is momentarily dazed, but Batman disarms her and flees to an abandoned building. Claiming the building has been scheduled for demolition, Loeb orders a bomb dropped on it, forcing Batman into the fortified basement, abandoning his belt as the explosives inside catch fire. A trigger-happy SWAT team led by Brandon is sent in, who Batman attempts to trap in the basement. They soon escape and, after tranquilizing Brandon, Batman dodges as the rest open fire, barely managing to survive after two bullet wounds. Enraged as the team’s carelessly fired bullets injure several people outside, Batman beats the team into submission and, after using a device to attract the bats of his cave to him, he flees amid the chaos. Selina Kyle, after witnessing him in action, dons a costume of her own to begin a life of crime. Gordon has a brief affair with Essen, while Batman intimidates a mob drug dealer for information. The dealer comes to Gordon to testify against Flass, who is brought up on charges. Upset with Gordon's exploits, Loeb blackmails Gordon against pressing charges with proof of his affair. After bringing Barbara with him to interview Bruce Wayne, investigating his connection to Batman, Gordon confesses the affair to her. Batman sneaks into Falcone’s manor, overhearing a plan against Gordon, but is interrupted when Selina Kyle, hoping to build a reputation after her robberies were pinned on Batman, attacks Falcone and his bodyguards, aided from afar by Batman. Identifying Falcone’s plan as the morning comes, the uncostumed Bruce leaves to help. While leaving home, Gordon spots a motorcyclist enter his garage. Suspicious, Gordon enters to see Johnny Vitti, Falcone’s nephew, and his thugs holding his family hostage. Gordon decisively shoots the thugs and chases Vitti, who has fled with the baby. Bruce Wayne, on a motorcycle, also rushes out to chase Vitti. Gordon blows out Vitti's car tire and fights him hand-to-hand till both of them and James Gordon Junior fall over the side. Bruce leaps over the railing and saves the baby. In the final scenes of the comic, Flass turns on Loeb, supplying Dent with evidence and testimony, and Loeb resigns. Gordon is promoted to captain and stands on the rooftop waiting for to meet Batman to discuss somebody called The Joker, who is plotting to poison the reservoir All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder Bruce Wayne and Vicki Vale are at the circus watching "The Flying Graysons," an acrobat family consisting of twelve-year-old Dick Grayson and his parents. When Grayson's parents are shot to death by a hit man, he is escorted from the scene by several cops of the Gotham City Police Department in a threatening manner. Vicki and Alfred Pennyworth chase after them. Batman begins searching for the killer and then rescues Dick Grayson from the police, telling him that he has been drafted into a war. More police chase after the Batmobile with orders to kill Batman, during which Vicki is seriously injured. Dick is frightened by Batman's violently ramming the police vehicles during the chase. When Dick begins to cry, Batman smacks him, though he then catches himself, questioning these actions. He tells Dick he will find his parents' killer, and tells him not to trust the Gotham police. Arriving in the Batcave, Batman drops Dick off, leaving him to his own devices. When Dick asks what he can eat Batman coldly tells Dick to eat the cave's vermin if he is hungry. Alfred informs Batman that Vicki is in critical condition, but knows a doctor in Paris who might be able to save her. Alfred contacts Superman, who is enraged to learn of Batman's kidnapping of Dick. Alfred reveals that Batman knows Superman's secret identity, thus blackmailing Superman into bringing the doctor from Paris to Gotham. Batman and Alfred get into a heated argument over Alfred's providing Dick with clean clothes, a blanket and food, and when Batman manhandles Dick, Alfred orders him to cease, invoking a bitter reaction from Batman. The Justice League, consisting of Superman, Wonder Woman, Plastic Man and Green Lantern, discusses Batman. Green Lantern and Plastic Man suggest talking to or inviting him into the League. Superman wants to arrest him and Wonder Woman wants to kill him. The latter two heroes argue rather heatedly over the issue, but are implied to have romantic feelings for each other and possibly even a relationship. The argument ends in a kiss, and Wonder Woman leaves in a huff, agreeing to wait before acting on her own to stop Batman. Batman comes to the aid of Black Canary, who is fighting a group of thugs, including "Jocko-Boy" Vanzetti, who killed Dick's parents. After defeating the criminals, the two crimefighters share a romantic interlude, before Batman takes Canary home, with Vanzetti bound and gagged in the Batmobile's trunk. Batman and Dick manage to extract from Jocko-Boy the name of the person who hired him: the Joker. Dick wants to fight crime with Batman, but Batman says he needs a secret identity first. Batman leaves the cave when he sees Green Lantern's symbol in the sky. After dumping Jocko-Boy in a river, Batman meets Green Lantern, but refuses to speak to him. Dick creates a costume, basing it on Robin Hood. Joker goes to see Catwoman to tell her he has an idea in mind for Batman. Batman returns to the cave, and when Dick tells him his name is Hood, Batman points out that an opponent can easily pull the hood down over his head. Batman tells him to lose the hood and names him Robin. Dick receives a new costume made by Alfred. Together they confront the Green Lantern. Robin paints the entire room yellow and he covers himself and Batman in yellow. Green Lantern's powers have no effect on something coloured yellow. Lantern tries to persuade Batman that his methods are not acceptable, either to the super-hero community or the world at large. Batman mocks his arguments and Lantern is further incensed when both he and Robin deny that Robin is Dick Grayson. Lantern is about to leave when Robin steals his ring causing a fight between them. Robin strikes Lantern with a move that almost kills him before Batman saves his life. Batman then takes Robin to his parents' graves, where they share a moment of mutual grief. The heroes then go underground at the request of Catwoman, who is severely injured. Jim Gordon is shown trying to solve a crime when he learns his wife has been in a accident. At the same time his daughter dressed as Batgirl is fighting crime. Black Canary robs a group of snuff film makers and proceeds to set them on fire. Batgirl is later arrested and Jim is shown to be deeply depressed when he calls his former lover Sarah at the request of his daughter. The Dark Knight Returns In the absence of superheroes, criminals run amok, and a gang called the Mutants terrorize a future Gotham City. Bruce Wayne has been retired from crime fighting for ten years following the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin. Despite Wayne's funding the rehabilitation of Harvey Dent (Two-Face), Dent returns to crime. Wayne puts on the Batman costume again to apprehend Dent, but the populace debates whether Batman is a savior. Carrie Kelly, a 13-year-old-girl whom Batman rescues, buys a Robin costume and searches for Batman to aid him. Kelly finds Batman at the city dump, where he is fighting the Mutants. The Mutants' leader defeats Batman in combat, but Kelly distracts him and pulls Batman into the tank-like Batmobile. Kelly attends to Batman’s wounds as the vehicle drives toward the Batcave. Once home, Batman takes Carrie on as the new Robin against his butler Alfred's objections. With Gordon's cooperation, the leader is allowed to escape from jail, and Batman beats him in front of the assembled Mutants gang, which then disbands as a result of this humiliation. The Joker convinces his psychiatrist that he is sane and regrets his misdeeds. Seeking to discredit Batman, the psychiatrist appears with the Joker on a late-night show. While the police attack Batman, the Joker murders everyone in the television studio and escapes. Batman and Robin find the Joker at a county fair, where Batman defeats Joker in a violent showdown. Batman stops short of killing the Joker, who twists his own broken neck, intending for the police to charge Batman with murder. After Superman diverts a Russian nuclear warhead which then detonates in a desert, millions of tons of dust and debris fill the atmosphere, and Gotham descends into chaos during the resulting blackout. Batman and Robin train former Mutants who now call themselves the Sons of the Batman in non-lethal fighting to stop looting and ensure the flow of needed supplies. Gotham becomes the safest city in America, and the U.S. government, seeing this as an embarrassment, orders Superman to take Batman down. Having been warned of the government's plans by Green Arrow, Batman confronts Superman where Bruce Wayne's parents were murdered decades earlier. Batman defeats Superman, but dies from an apparent heart attack. After his funeral, he is revived by Robin, his death staged as an elaborate ruse. Alfred destroys the Batcave and Wayne Manor and suffers a fatal stroke. Batman leads Robin, Green Arrow, and the rest of his army into the caverns beyond the Batcave and prepares to continue his fight. The Dark Knight Strikes Again After going underground, Batman (Bruce Wayne) and his young sidekick, Catgirl (Carrie Kelly, Robin from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns), train an army of "batboys" to save the world from a "police-state" dictatorship led by Lex Luthor. In a series of raids on government facilities, Batman's soldiers release from captivity other superheroes including: The Atom, trapped for years in a petri dish; The Flash, forced to run on a treadmill to provide America with free power; and Plastic Man, now insane and trapped in Arkham Asylum. Elongated Man is recruited from his job as a commercial spokesman, and Green Arrow is already working with Batman (as seen in the end of DKR). Other heroes such as Superman, Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel have been forced to work for the government since their loved ones are being held hostage and/or are under threat. Superman is even ordered by the "President" — in fact a computer generated front for Lex Luthor and Brainiac — to stop Batman. He confronts Wayne at the Batcave, but is defeated by Batman and the other superheroes. Meanwhile, Batman's raids have not gone unnoticed by the media. After being banned for years, the freed superheroes have recaptured the public imagination, becoming a fad among youth. At a concert for the pop group "The Superchix", Batman and the other heroes make a public appearance, urging their fans to rebel against the oppressive government. During this time, rogue vigilante The Question spies on Luthor's plans, typing a journal to record the misdeeds of those in power. He attempts to convince the Martian Manhunter, now an aged, bitter, near-powerless figure with his mind filled with Luthor's nanotechnology, to stand up against Superman and the powers that be. The two are soon attacked by a figure who physically resembles the Joker but is seemingly invulnerable to injury, and the Martian Manhunter sacrifices his life as The Question is rescued by Green Arrow. The villain escapes, but proceeds to kill other heroes such as The Guardian, The Creeper and likely others who have come out of retirement. An alien monster lands in Metropolis and begins to destroy the city. Batman, however, is convinced that it is a way to lure him and his allies out of hiding and does not respond, callously dismissing Flash's claim that they are supposed to save lives. Batman's attitude is that the stakes are too high to worry about preserving life at all cost, whether this applies to men, women or even children. Superman and Captain Marvel fight the monster, but it is revealed to be Brainiac, who coerces Superman (using the bottled Kryptonian city of Kandor as leverage) into losing the battle in order to crush the people's faith in superheroes. Captain Marvel is killed defending citizens from the carnage, but Superman is saved when Lara, his daughter by Wonder Woman, appears and destroys Brainiac's monster body. She has been carefully hidden since birth, but, now that the government knows she exists, they demand that she be handed over. Deciding that Batman and his methods are the only way out, Superman, Wonder Woman and their daughter join him and assist in his plan. By having Lara pretend to hand herself over to Brainiac, the Atom is able to slip into the bottle and free the Kandorians who use their combined heat vision to destroy Brainiac, the heroes subsequently destroying the power source of the dictatorship and inciting revolution. Batman allows himself to be captured and tortured by Luthor, who plans to use satellites to destroy most of the world's population and leave them with a more manageable number of people. The satellites, however, are destroyed by the now god-like Green Lantern who wraps a giant fist around the Earth, destroying Luthor's several trillion dollars-worth of weapons. Luthor is subsequently killed by the son of Hawkman whose parents had been killed earlier on. This is an action Batman planned and approves, much to Flash's horror. Returning to the Batcave, Batman receives a communication from Carrie: she is being attacked by the same psychopath who dispatched the Martian Manhunter and other heroes. Batman recognizes the assailant as Dick Grayson, the first Robin, who has been genetically manipulated to possess a powerful healing factor and is criminally insane. Batman shows nothing but contempt for his former sidekick and plans his death the moment they face each other. Batman hurls himself and Grayson into a miles-deep crevasse filled with lava and blows up the entire cave, igniting an underground volcano and destroying everything — only to be saved by Superman at the last minute and brought to Carrie in the Batmobile. Both Bruce and Carrie survive. | Powers = Batman does not possess any known superhuman powers. | Abilities = * Intimidation * Interrogation * Peak Human Conditioning * Master Martial Artist * Acrobatics :* Expert Marksman :* Master of Stealth * Genius-Level Intellect :* Master Detective :* Escapologist :* Master of Disguise :* Driving :* Aviation :* Equestrianism | Strength = * Peak Human Strength: The Batman still exercises frequently and intensively; as such he possesses the peak physical strength of a man of his middle age and build. At the age of fifty five, he has demonstrated enough strength in some cases to overpower men twenty and thirty years younger than him. | Weaknesses = Being human, the Batman possesses all the vulnerabilities of any other human being. | Equipment = Utility Belt, armored costume, cape, and cowl. Devices are many and varied. Grapple-shotgun, batarangs. | Transportation = The Batmobile (more like a tank). | Weapons = Batarangs, flash bombs, mini-lasers, rope, etc. | Notes = | Trivia = | DC = | Recommended Reading = * Batman: Year One * All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder * Batman: The Dark Knight Returns * Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again * Holy Terror, Batman! | Wikipedia = Batman: The Dark Knight Returns | Links = * "The Dark Knight Strikes Again" at Wikipedia * "Batman: Year One" at Wikipedia * "All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder" at Wikipedia * "Holy Terror, Batman!" at Wikipedia }} Category:1986 Character Debuts